10 Software-Defined Networking Architectures

Software-defined networking is a hot topic for debate in the industry. Experts argue about the best way to implement it, the ways it might affect network engineers and administrators, and how it might disrupt the traditional power structure in the networking industry. While there are a lot of opinions about this emerging technology, there's one inescapable fact: SDN has brought new attention and innovation to the network.
To get a view into the various approaches to SDN, we asked 10 vendors to

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Big Switch Networks Open SDN

Big Switch Networks' Open SDN platform offers an OpenFlow switch fabric that can run on bare metal switches and hypervisor virtual switches, and enables a wide variety of SDN network applications, including data center network virtualization and network monitoring. The Open SDN platform uses industry standard protocols, open APIs, and open source networking infrastructure.

Big Switch Networks Open SDN suite is built around the Big Network Controller, which is a network application platform that enables a broad range of application support, including data center network virtualization (Big Virtual Switch) and network monitoring (Big Tap).

Respondents are on a roll: 53% brought their private clouds from concept to production in less than one year, and 60% ­extend their clouds across multiple datacenters. But expertise is scarce, with 51% saying acquiring skilled employees is a roadblock.